Ever so often you have a challenge, and Anaiya was mine. Arriving with her mummy and daddy and their latest new arrival, only a month old, I could see that Anaiya’s parent’s had their hands full.
Our subject was very clingy, inparticular towards her Daddy… She wouldn’t leave his side. Actually, initially I did manage to grab a couple of shots of her, full length.. Then she was off to her Daddy.
Every child is different. You never can tell how they are going to react, particularly to a strainge environment, such as a studio, with bright lights etc. I sensed that I really did need to let her come out of her shell herself. Without too much encouragement from myself, I could sense that to do the opposite would have a detrimental effect towards our goals.
As Anaiya snuggled close to Daddy. I was mindful to keep conversation going with her parent’s. As I was doing this, I manouvered lights, ever so slowly and gently into the line of Anaiya. I could at least now manage to capture a couple of headshots perhaps. Her father was wearing a white pullover, which was useful, as I knew that I could quite simply fade this out in editing.
With those shots in the bag, her father encouraged Anaiya with a banjo that I have sat in the corner of the floor… this was a masterstroke! She jumped up, wanting to play the strings, she carried the instrument and started to strum. We captured a couple of wonderful shots in that moment… The rest is history!
I had the editing ready a day or two following the session, and Lowry was so pleased with the results, as was I… So a massive thank you to Anaiya’s Daddy for this, you made the moment with your quick thinking… and I think we have a rock chick on our hands!
